Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/190797
Sarasota News Leader October 11, 2013 Page 81 SUPERVISORS OF ELECTIONS GROUP AWARDED NEW FEDERAL GRANT The Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) has awarded a $1.8 million grant to a consortium of Florida counties — including Sarasota — to be used to expand outreach to members of the U.S. military who are absent from their voting jurisdictions and civilians living overseas, the program has announced. The Florida project, titled Our Mission: Your Vote, was launched simultaneously by 13 counties in time for the November 2012 general election, a news release says. It provided an electronic ballot delivery system to simplify and expedite the absentee ballot process for those hardest-to-reach voters, the release points out. "The recent grant will allow the Florida coalition to expand from 13 to 34 counties, covering more than half of Florida counties and providing greater online access and higher absentee ballot return rates for voters covered by the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA)," the release adds. "Our Mission: Your Vote allows an absent military or overseas voter to request and then access online their blank ballot shortly after the request is validated," Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections Kathy Dent explained in the release. The system is available to any absent uniformed services member, family member or overseas civilian who maintains a residence in any one of the participating Florida counties, the release says. The online ballot delivery system is one of many steps being taken by Our Mission: Your Vote to increase voter confidence and ease voter concerns about the vote by mail (absentee) ballot process, Dent noted. The original members of the coalition, led by Okaloosa County, included Baker, Bay, Bradford, Clay, Duval, Escambia, Leon, Nassau, Pinellas, Putnam, Sarasota and Wakulla counties. Joining the coalition as a result of the new grant, are Alachua, Charlotte, Citrus, Collier, Hernando, Highlands, Indian River, Jackson, Levy, Madison, Manatee, Martin, Miami-Dade, Okeechobee, Osceola, St. Johns, Santa Rosa, Sumter, Suwannee, Walton and Washington counties. Eligible Sarasota County voters may request an online ballot by visiting the SOE web site at www.SarasotaVotes.com or by visiting www. OurMissionYourVote.us. POLICE DEPARTMENT PRESENTS CHECK TO FOUNDATION On Oct. 4, the Sarasota Police Department incarcerated parents in the Sarasota County made a $1,500 donation to the Inmate Ministry Jail, the release points out. Foundation, the department has announced. The Inmate Ministry Foundation's Read to Me Chief Bernadette DiPino and Capt. Lucius Program, founded earlier this year by Dave Bonner presented a check to Brenda Zofrea, a and Bobbi Norris, is believed to be the first volunteer with the foundation, a news release of its kind in Florida to promote literacy for says. inmates in collaboration with local libraries. The funds will be used to provide copies Zofrea, author of Let's B Safe, explained in of the book, Let's B Safe, to the children of the release, "The … program provides a